Skipping meals may not change the heart’s fuel – but it could boost blood flow

Changing when you eat may not rewire how the heart fuels itself – but it may rapidly restore how well blood can reach it. Volunteers followed alternate-day fasting, and researchers found striking improvement in arterial function – a key predictor of heart disease outcomes, essentially how well the heart can increase blood flow when it needs more oxygen. Such changes are usually achieved only with prolonged drug treatment.